Excessive charges

pete102

Background;

I have been off work with a back injury for the last 17 weeks. Due to my employer not paying me while i am on the sick, I am only getting SSP which works out to approx. £75/week.

Due to family being on holiday I was unable to have my SSP paid into my bank account on Friday, in fact only got it paid in yesterday. Today I got a letter from my bank (Halifax PLC) to say they were unable to make a direct debit payment for £42 to my credit card company (MBNA Europe) and charged me £35 for the failed Direct debit.
I immediately called MBNA this morning to make the payment to save incurring any charges, only to be told my account was over limit by £88 - it turns out because of the failed DD they are applying £75 of charges, the charges are as follows:

Failed Direct debit: £25
Over Limit charge: £25
Late Fee : £25

So, for being unable to get to the bank it has cost me £110 - Due to my circumstances with work I am unable to pay it, and have not got payment protection. Can I fight the excessive charges in any way? they seem ridiculous altogether.
I dont see the point now in paying the £42 to MBNA as they will keep adding more charges (£25 every 15 days the guy told me today) If however I was able to avoid the charges I would be able to keep up the payments on the card.

Any suggestions appreciated

Walletwatch

Unfortunately, I doubt you'd be able to do anything by way of fighting these charges, as invariably these are terms we sign up to when we apply for the account / card. (Do double check the T&Cs though, to see if there's a cap to the charges that can be levied for a single default on your part on the card)

What might help, and you should definitely give a shot for is to speak to MBNA and explain your position, and ask them to waive part of the charges. Will especially be considered if you've had the card for some time, and not defaulted on your payments before.

While it is an unfortunate occurence, I don't think you will be helping matters any, by delaying the payments and aggravating the amounts of penal charges levied.

I am not too clued on to the way SSP payments are made, but is it not possible to have it directly deposited to your account?

deemy2004

You could try sending them a letter that the charges are unfair and that your going to complain to the ombundsman.

Though if they do call your bluff, you will have to follow that route, so a long time.....

Though your argument will have to be that such charges are inherently unfair i.e. miss a payment for whatever reason and you get clobbered by punitive charges, so not an argument of why you missed but rather than they should not make such charges.

InsuranceLiability

Agree with above
If you have had the mbna card for more than a year and never had a late payment and explain your situation I'm pretty sure they will waive the late fee.
Talk to your bank as well.
If you cant pay, go to your Citizens Advice Bureau and ask about entering into a voluntary agreement where you basically pay a pound a week to your creditors - there is more information elsewhere on this site about this.

MarkyMarkD

I can't see what's wrong with any of these charges, apart from that you don't want to pay them.

They are all documented in your account Ts & Cs. If you wanted to avoid them, you should have maintained your accounts in line with those Ts & Cs.

Sorry to be unhelpful, but neither bank has done anything wrong.

Why are you running your credit card account so close to the limit that missing one payment puts you over the limit? That's not responsible.

paint

The charges seem fairly standard across the financial services industry. I was recently clobbered for similar charges from both nat west and first direct. It has prompted me to take stock and organise my finances in a more structured way so as not to sail so close to the wind.

You might be able to get a sympathetic call centre advisor to waive some of the charges - I was fortunate enough to get mine halved as a goodwill gesture.

Good luck with it - even though it's standard practice and will be in your terms and conditions it's still a sickener when it happens.